Improvement in billiard-cushions



/Mezaey 2mm @www PATENT@ AUG 151871 UNITED STATES MATHEW DELANEY, OF NEWYORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN BILLIARD-CUSHIONS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 117,995, dated August15, 1871.

To all whom it may concern: a

Be it known that I, MATHEW DELANEY, of the city, county, and State ofNew York, have invented a new and Improved Billiard-Cushion, and I dohereby declare that the following isa full, clear, and exact descriptionthereof, which will enable others skilled in the art tofmake and use thesame, reference being had to the accompanying drawing forming part ofthis specification, in which- Figure l represents a perspective View ofmy improved billiard-cushion, showing its mode of application. Fig. 2 isa sectional elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a detail top view of thesame, showing the manner of cushioning at the pockets. Fig. 4isa detailend view, partly in section, of the pocket end of the cushion.

Similar letters of reference indicate correspond ing parts.

This invention relates to improvements on the billiard-cushion for whichLetters Patent No. 97,057 were granted to me November 23, 1869; and hasfor its object to improve the mechanism. for stretching the wire or cordto increase the elasticity of the cushion and provide an elastic end forpocket-billiards. My invention consists in two improvements upon mypatent No. 97,057. The first consists in combining with the ordinaryelastic cushion an auxiliary piece of a different character at thepockets. This is a substance which will not admit of the reaction andrebound of the ordinary rubber', but which at the same time will not berigid and unyielding as the brass specified in the said former patent.Brass, wood, or any other substance which is practically unyieldingcauses a very rapid wear ofthe expensive cloth used uponbilliard-tables. Especially is this the, case on the sharp angle of thepocket. To avoid this di'iiiculty I place at the pocket a hard-rubberblock, as hereinafter described. The second improvement consists inarranging the tension-spindle in a way to produce a valuable effect. Inmy old patent I describe a tension-spindle placed within the rail; butit has been found, in practice, extremely inconvenient to take off therail whenever it is desired to tighten the wire. This difficulty I haveovercome by arranging the spindle so that it can be operated withoutremoving the rail, as hereinafter described.

placed into the corner ofthe billiard-table.

A in the drawing represents the elastic billiard-cushion, made of rubberproperly vulcanized, of three or more sided prismatic form, and suitablesize. Through it is drawn a string or wire, a., substantially asdescribed in my aforesaid Letters Patent. I prefer to use a spun wire,as it imparts greater strength to the cushion without reducingelasticity than can be obtained from any other kind of wire or cord. Theends of the string are wound upon vertical strainingpins B, which ha-ngin the frame C of the billiard-table, and carry ratchet-wheels b neartheir lower ends, as shown. Springpawls (l fit into these ratchet-wheelsand lock the pins so as to prevent the strings from unwinding. Thestring, before passing to the post B, is laid over a bridge, D, made ofwood or other rigid materia-l, and For billiard-tables which areprovided'with pockets the cushion is interrupted, and an elast-ic end atevery interruption provided. This end E is made of rubber, somewhatharder than the main cushion A, of triangular form, and the wire orstring a is laid against its face and finally secured to the frame U, inthe manner clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The corner-piece E must bestronger than A, because it has to sustain the direct strain -of thewire, and is still required to be elastic.

It is at its face, together with the wire, covered with elastic fabrice, whereby the wire is 'concealed from view and the elasticity of thecushion augmented.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent- 1. The arrangement of the spindle B within thewood-work of the table, and projecting vertically below the same, toenable the wire to be readily and conveniently tightened withoutremoving any part.

2. The arrangement at the pocket of a billiard-table of a block of hardrubber, E, which shall not possess the elasticity of the ordinarycushion A,the rigidity of metal or wood, and which will yet yield to asmall extent, thereby saving the rapid wear on the cloth.

MATHEW DELANEY.

WVitnesses GEO. W. MABEE, T. B. MosHER.

